


A Luthor Walks Into A Bar...

by DarkWingsDarkWords48



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alien Bar (Supergirl TV 2015), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bisexual Kara Danvers, Dorks in Love, Drinking & Talking, F/F, Kryptonian Culture & Customs, Lesbian Lena Luthor, Love at First Sight, Strangers to Lovers, Useless Lesbians
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:28:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 16,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25613599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkWingsDarkWords48/pseuds/DarkWingsDarkWords48
Summary: After a long day preparing her company's move to National City, Lena Luthor needs a drink, and finds herself in Al's Dive Bar.  An alien bar, as she soon discovers.  But a chance meeting with a dorky, beautiful, sunny blonde alien who is also patronizing the bar quickly changes her life for the better.
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor
Comments: 35
Kudos: 697





	1. Lena

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Kara and Lena in the show (honestly about the only good part of it for the last couple seasons), and their relationship, but let's face it, they've totally got the hots for each other whether the writers will acknowledge it or not.
> 
> So this is set around the beginning of Season 2, and honestly pays little attention to Canon or the timeline, so let's just enjoy our two useless lesbians meeting before they would in Canon, as Lena is finalizing her move to National City.

**Chapter 1: Lena**

Lena stopped at the street corner, waiting for the pedestrian light to flash, and closed her eyes, inhaling deeply. The air in National City was much clearer than that of Metropolis – that was one of the first things she noticed upon beginning her move here.

Sure, there was the exhaust of cars, the aroma of various city garbage cans and their contents. But it was much less noticeable. Not just because the city was smaller than Metropolis, but because it had become known in the last few years for adopting many environmental initiatives. 

The buses ran pure electric, recharging at their various stations every day from battery banks charged solely by solar arrays. The city trash cans are sat side-by-side with a similar container for recycling, and another for compostable materials. The dozens of recent green start-ups in the city, together with the Mayor’s policies of pushing toward a carbon-neutral city by the end of her first term, had earned National City the new moniker of the ‘Green Silicon Valley’ of the US.

That had been a major factor in her decision to move her company here. Getting the sudden responsibility of running it had been daunting, but she had taken to it like a fish to water. Moving from Metropolis, away from the scars and bad press, had been vital to keep the company going. And here, in National City, she could fulfill her plans to change LuthorCorp (soon to be L-Corp) into a company that was dedicated to doing good in the world – to bettering it with new technologies and ideas.

In time, perhaps, people might even believe it. But right now, she and her new-found company were haunted and stalked by the shadows of what her brother had done. To the company, to Metropolis, to Superman. He had driven them into the ground with his ever-loosening sanity, turning their father’s tech company into a company dedicated to harm. Weapons-manufacturing, spying, anything that would give back money for his single-minded cause: to kill the Kryptonian hero of the city, and preferably every other alien on the planet.

The light changed finally, and Lena crossed the street swiftly, heels clicking, as that thought led her mind to the other reason she’d moved to National City. Much like Metropolis, it had its own resident Kryptonian hero. And maybe, just maybe, showing that she was willing to move to a city with its own Kryptonian, and – hopefully – coexist peacefully with her, that public perception of her and her company would change. Maybe they would realize she is not Lex. That she does not despise aliens, let alone someone who is essentially the city’s alien mascot. That her brother’s dreams and crimes were just that – his own – and that she wants nothing to do with the monster he became.

 _‘So far, so good_ ,’ Lena thought to herself. She had thus far kept her move rather quiet, though, and that would change when it was publicly announced tomorrow. Yesterday she’d begun to move into her new apartment she’d bought – a penthouse suite not far from where L-Corp would be – and today she had signed the final paperwork to lease the tower that would house the migrating company.

The last months had been truly exhausting, between dealing with the Board – many of whom were not liking the direction she was taking the company, let alone the planned move – and the literal stacks of paperwork she’d had to fill out to make it happen. Both cities certainly loved their bureaucracy, and honestly it had made her a little queasy when she thought of how many trees they must be responsible for cutting down every year.

Lena had stopped shortly at her apartment after the paperwork was done, staring at the imposing wall of moving boxes, wanting to just sleep. But her bed still had not arrived, and while she’d made do with sleeping on the small sofa she’d bought while in town, she decided she needed to be resoundingly drunk to do it again. At least then she could blame the alcohol for the aches and pains. And besides, she had certainly earned herself a night off to celebrate.

She had carefully removed all her makeup, let her hair down, and tugged on some comfortable jeans and a t-shirt, and set off to find a bar to drink the night away. Anything to not feel like the well-groomed, well-dressed CEO image she had found herself tossed into.

So, there she was, wandering the still-unfamiliar streets of National City. She’d already passed up a nightclub that had been filled with a fraternity party night from the local university – she’d been to enough of those to last a life time, and had little interest in barely-21 drunken frat boys hanging all over her tonight. Another place she had considered but moved along from had been more of a bar and grill, and was positively crowded, with a line out the front door.

Finally, as she was getting ready to give up her exploration and simply pull out her phone and google a good quiet bar, her eyes alighted on a dingy sign along a single story building that looked like it had seen better days. _Al’s Dive Bar_ , the letters of the sign read. It sounded like the exact sort of place she was looking for.

She walked toward the entrance, finding herself behind a man in a suit who towered over her in height – she guessed he had to be almost seven feet tall. He seemed to notice her close behind, and held the door for her, and she gave him a grateful smile in return, as she entered the bar.

It took several steps, and a few long moments for her eyes to start to adjust from the bright streetlights of the outside world, to the dimly lit interior. Evenly spaced pendant lights hung from the ceiling, giving just the right amount of light to see, but little enough to easily disappear into anonymously for a night of private celebration.

The air was filled with thick scents of liquor, greasy food, and smoke. Lena’s adjusting eyes could make out several pool tables being used in the back, and neon lights spelling out various beer and liquor brands decorated the walls in various glowing colors. She could hear a loud, unfamiliar song playing from an old-school-looking jukebox in another corner.

Lena ducked her head, making her way carefully along the bar to the end, and then settled her arms on the bar top, catching the eye of the bartender as she did so. The woman nodded in her direction and held up a finger as she shook up a drink for another patron. She was rather pretty, dark short hair, dark skin, and a pretty smile. Lena huffed to herself – she had not dated since Jack had broken up with her, and she’d found thoughts like these in her head more and more often the last week in this new city. ‘ _God, I need to get laid.’_

The bartender finally came over, after pouring out the drink she had been mixing, and looked Lena over with an appraising eye. “Something to drink? Eat?”

Lena nodded, and glanced down, realizing she had not looked at the small menu that she’d settled in front of. “Vodka on the rocks, a vodka and coke, and….” Her eyes ran over the menu that contained some oddly-named appetizers and entrees, alighting on two things she immediately recognized. “an order of buffalo wings, and an order of bar fries. Could I…. get those over at that table?”

Lena nodded toward a table in the near corner that she’d spotted coming in. Secluded, quiet, and almost completely in the shadows, with little chance of anyone recognizing her. The woman raised an eyebrow, and then shrugged. “No problem. Hang on here, and I’ll get you the drinks, and I’ll have someone send the food when it’s ready.”

She moved down the bar, fingers running over bottles, until she reached a particular one. She gave Lena another glance, and then grabbed two cups, filling them first with ice, and then pouring one with a healthy amount of vodka, and another a nice mix of cola and the same vodka.

“Here you go, you want to start a tab?” She asked, smiling as she set the cups down in front of her.

Lena shook her head and placed a fifty dollar bill on the counter to cover the drinks, food, and a rather generous tip. “I’ll just pay as I go, thank you.”

She scooped up the drinks, and turned to walk over to her chosen table, and settled in, enjoying the cool ambiance of the bar. She closed her eyes and took a sip of the vodka, eyes fluttering open in surprise at how smooth it was. She couldn’t place the brand, but whatever it was, it was smoother and definitely stronger than anything she’d tasted before.

Lena pulled out her phone, checking her e-mails, and sending off a message to her secretary Jess to expect her back in Metropolis tomorrow evening for the final work that needed to be done for the relocation. Another few flicks across the screen had her early morning flight on the LuthorCorp private jet rescheduled for a later afternoon one – she planned to be well hungover the next morning and had no interest in an airplane ride while recovering from tonight.

Satisfied that she had things taken care of, at least until tomorrow, she shut her phone off, slid it into the back pocket of her jeans, and finished off the vodka before beginning to nurse the vodka soda. It wasn’t long before the bartender appeared at her table, carrying two platters that she set down in front of Lena. 

Lena’s eyes widened, the amount of food being much more than she had expected from a dive bar – twelve hot wings and a heaping plate of thick-cut fries covered in spices. But…. Well, damn it, it was her celebration night, she would indulge as much as her stomach could handle.

“Anything else, Miss….”

“Lena,” she said, and then nodded. “Perhaps another vodka soda.”

The bartender nodded, grabbed the empty of the two glasses, and started back toward the bar, only to stop for a moment and turn back. “Name’s Megan by the way,” she said, and Lena caught a hint of an accent she couldn’t place as she said her name. “I’ll get you that drink, give me a shout if you need anything else.”

For the next twenty or so minutes, Lena’s life was bliss. Tasty drinks, and even more delicious food. She’d managed to polish off all of the wings and was slowly picking her way through the fries which were clearly seasoned with the drunken appetite in mind. Greasy and peppery and salty, it certainly hit the spot.

Lena took a sip from her third drink, feeling a slight buzz at that point, and chewed slowly on another fry as she glanced up toward the bar to see if Megan was busy or if she could get another drink from her.

Her eyes widened, and she nearly choked on the fry, when along the bar she saw the form of someone sitting at the end, near where she had ordered previously. A rather large someone. With a sloping, flat forehead, green skin, and _four_ arms. Two resting on the bar top, the other two scooping food… of some sort… into its mouth.

Sure, she knew aliens lived in National City, hell there were plenty in Metropolis aside from Superman. She had even seen pictures, in articles online, in the National Geographic specials. But never in person. And here she was, sitting perhaps fifteen feet behind one, and no one around this alien seemed to even spare it a glance.

That was what led her gaze to travel across the bar patrons she’d walked past earlier, taking them in with more detail as she wondered why they were so nonchalant about a rather large, rather unusual, alien in their bar.

And that’s when she started to see things her earlier short, sliding glances had missed. The woman next to this alien seemed to have longer than normal arms, and the reddish hue of her skin was definitely not being cast by any of the neon lights near her. Further down the bar, she caught the side-profile of another patron, and realized he had razor-sharp fangs in place of normal human teeth.

Dread started to bubble up inside her gut, as she let her gaze travel around the room, only to see even more oddities. For every normal-looking person, there was another who looked mostly normal until she caught a little detail that was… off. And for every one of those, there was someone who was simply blatantly alien. She swallowed thickly, breathing sharply through her nose as she caught sight of the man who had held the door for her. He was certainly still well-dressed, and certainly still nearly seven feet tall. But what she had apparently failed to notice by not looking up at him as she entered, was the steel-grey skin of his face, and the cluster of four eyeballs above a small nose and thick lips.

Lena closed her eyes and counted to ten, with each number praying that she was simply much more drunk than she thought she was, that she was seeing things, that something in the smooth vodka she’d been drinking was making her hallucinate.

When she opened her eyes, however, nothing had changed. She, Lena Luthor, sister of the most well-known xenophobe on the planet, was sitting in a room filled with aliens. She let out a shaky breath, and slowly finished chewing the fry that she’d had in her mouth. 

_‘Fuck. Damn. Fucking Hell. Only you, Lena. Only you would walk into a bloody alien bar, and not even realize it. How do you get yourself into these messes?’_

She slowly finished her drink, her eyes scanning the entirety of the bar now, trying to see if anyone seemed to have spotted her. Because if someone did, if someone here recognized her, she knew this might be her last night on this planet. 

The sheer amount of hate-mail and threats she had received since taking over LuthorCorp told her that. With what her brother had done, with his xenophobia on public display in his court case and his prior attacks, she had little doubt that she’d be squashed like a bug simply for her familial association, especially if one of these aliens had lost a loved one to his many attacks or fights with Superman. And honestly, she would not blame them.

She closed her eyes again, trying to calm the triphammer beat of her heart, trying to engage her slightly-buzzed brain into a plan on how to get out of here alive. ‘ _Think, Lena. They don’t seem to have recognized you yet. You just need to play this cool. You already paid for that second round of drinks Megan brought you, so she won’t make a scene if you leave. Just have to slowly, calmly, push back from the table, keep your head down, and walk across the bar and out the door like you belong here. Okay, let’s d-‘_

Lena nearly jumped out of her skin, eyes flying open, barely stifling a scream in the back of her throat when a loud _thunck_ of a heavy glass bottle suddenly sounded from her table, mere inches away from her.

Lena’s eyes flashed to the nearly empty bottle, noting it was filled with a fizzy neon-yellow liquid, her heart beating wildly, trying to claw its way out of her throat, as her gaze slowly rose to see who – or what – had just joined her at her table.

The hand holding the neck of the bottle is human enough, slender fingers with short nails curled around it. The woman – because she certainly looked like a woman – was wearing tight black jeans that hug her hips, and a long-sleeve button-up shirt with a black-and-white checkered fabric, the sleeves rolled up nearly to her elbows, enough that Lena could see the muscle definition of her forearms quite clearly.

As Lena’s gaze reached the woman’s face, she found her heart’s rapid beat continuing for another – quite different - reason. For all she would know looking at her, she was a human. And a gorgeous human at that. Bright blue eyes behind a pair of dark-rimmed glasses, dark blonde hair pinned up behind her head in a loose bun, rosy cheeks, and full lips that were curved into a bright smile as she looked right back at Lena, like sunshine personified.

“Hey!” She said, voice rich and bubbly.

“H-hi” Lena manages to force out without swallowing her tongue, her brain fighting between her gay panic at the sight in front of her and remembering that she’s currently in the midst of a bar filled with aliens.

“Is it your first time here?” the woman asked, before glancing at the chair that she was standing behind, right next to Lena. “Do you mind if I sit?”

Lena nodded dumbly at the chair, before the woman’s other question registered. “I- er, yes, it is.”

The woman swiftly pulled out the chair, and took a seat, fingers toying with the neck of her bottle. “I thought so, you looked a little uncomfortable or nervous, so I thought I’d come say hi, and welcome you. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with being nervous, gosh, I was really nervous when I first came here. But really, you just gotta take that first step and meet people and make friends. Even if it’s intimidating at first, most of the aliens here are friendly when you get to know them.”

Lena swallowed. Of course. This… gorgeous, bright ray of sunshine was an alien. And…. Apparently she thought Lena was one as well.

“Anyway, I just thought it would help you if you got to know one of us, so, um, here I am,” the woman continued, cheeks flushing, almost babbling. “Oh gosh, I haven’t even introduced myself. I’m Kara,” she stuck out a hand toward Lena.

Lena cautiously took it, her heart stuttering slightly at the very warm skin of Kara’s hand, and at how firm her grip was. ‘ _Danger, Danger, Lena, remember we’re getting out of the situation, not falling for the hot alien girl’,_ her mind screamed at her.

Her mind tried to make up a name – any name – to say to the woman, anything to hurry things along and get the hell out of there without revealing who she was. But her mouth betrayed her amid her brainstorming, to say “I’m Lena.”

Kara’s smile brightened – if that was even possible – to the point that the corners of her eyes crinkled into the grin. “Lena.” Kara rolled the name over her tongue. “Lena. That’s such a pretty name. It’s nice to meet you, Lena.”

Lena could feel a warmth come to her cheeks at the compliment, and let out a breath she had been holding, when the woman apparently failed to recognize her after learning her name.

Kara picked up her bottle, and tilted her head back to finish it off in one long swig, and Lena found it terribly difficult to tear her eyes away from the other woman’s slender throat as she swallowed the remaining drink.

“Hey Megan!” Kara called, waving down the bartender, causing Lena to tense when the call brought a few gazes their way.

The bartender waved back and nodded, closing out someone’s tab before coming over to their table. “Hey Kara, what can I do for you?”

“Could I get another Rimborian Lager? And, uh, maybe one for my new friend Lena?” Kara glanced over to her, eyes questioning. “My treat.”

Lena froze in place, unsure what the hell that even was, let alone how to answer that. She’d barely met her and apparently, they were already friends, and she was being treated to a drink. By an alien. In an alien bar. Could her life become any more insane? She cursed herself for thinking that the next instant.

“Uhhhh…. Kara…. I think that might be a little too…. strong for her. She’s been drinking just regular vodka. So maybe something a little more… _human_ strength?” Megan interjected, looking directly at Lena, eyes widening meaningfully as she emphasized the word.

‘ _Fuck, she knows_. _I’m screwed.’_

But Megan smiled, and shook her head ever so slightly, almost as if she could read Lena’s mind. And that was as far as Megan went. Essentially telling her that she knows, but she was not going to say anything. At least not yet.

“Oh!” Kara exclaimed, her cheeks turning a bright red as she flushed with embarrassment. “I’m so sorry, Lena, I forget sometimes that not everyone can drink the same as me. So, more human strength….” She furrowed her brow, drawing Lena’s attention to an ever-so-slight scar mark on her skin between her eyebrows.

“Got it! Have you ever tried Bgtzlian Tonic before?” At the shake of her head, Kara turns to Megan. “You think that would be okay?”

“It’ll be an interesting experience, but I think she could handle it.”

“Great, just put them both on my tab. You’re the greatest, Megan.”

“Of course I am,” she preened, before chuckling at the tongue Kara stuck out at her. “I’ll be right back with those drinks.”

Lena swallowed heavily as the bartender shot her one last look and walked away, and then she found herself trapped in Kara’s curious blue gaze, unsure what to say at this point. “I… Kara, you didn’t have to buy me a drink,” she finally settled for, wondering how she was going to get out of here, knowing each second was a chance that someone else would recognize her, or at least be as observant as Megan and realize she was not an alien.

“It’s fine, Lena, I wanted to. So we can get to know each other, I mean, I’m not, like, trying to be creepy or anything, I just, um, thought you’d like to get to know someone else in the community, and you seem really nice, and, ohmigosh, am I overstepping? Is this getting weird for you? Am I being like one of those weird guys that keeps trying to buy you drinks even after you tell them no? Oh, Lena, please, don’t feel obligated to talk to me or anything if you don’t want to, I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable, or-“

Lena could only stand the panicked babble for so long, before it tugged at her heartstrings enough that she knew she had to stop the poor girl from what would likely be several more minutes of word vomit. It was a little – okay, very – endearing, but she could also feel her own second-hand embarrassment just watching her. She reached out and touched Kara’s hand gently, with a little trepidation at how she might view the gesture. “Kara, please, breathe. It’s… it’s a sweet gesture, and I don’t think you’re creepy or weird. Thank you for the drink. I just… this is all so… new to me,” she settles with saying.

“Oh, thank goodness, I’m so glad,” Kara breathed out. “Not, uh, not glad that it’s new to you but- Sorry.“ she cut herself short this time, and hid her face in her palms for a few seconds, but Lena was almost certain she heard a mumble to the effect of “Pretty girls always make me ramble”.

And that… well, that definitely does _things_ to her heart and her stomach that Lena would rather not acknowledge.

“Sorry, I ramble,” Kara finally said, removing her face from her hands. “I meant it though, maybe we can just talk, over drinks, and only about things you’re comfortable talking about, and maybe help you adjust a little to, all this,” Kara finished, waving her arms around to take in the entirety of the bar.

Before Lena could reply, Megan was back, and she gently placed a tall champagne glass in front of Lena. Inside it was a pale white liquid, that at first glance looked like milk, or perhaps liquid white chalk. On second glance, she saw tiny bubbles, effervescing through the drink and up to its surface. On third glance, she realized it almost looked like it had light flecks of glitter inside it.

“Don’t worry, it’s completely harmless,” Megan reassured her. “But it won’t be like anything you’ve drunk before.”

Lena’s gaze shifted from eyeing the drink dubiously, to watching as Megan plopped another bottle in front of Kara, this one filled to the brim with the same bright neon drink. As she left to return to the bar, Lena could see that some of the liquid had swished over the top in a long droplet, which ran down the side of the bottle, and over Kara’s fingers.

Her eyes widened and her throat tightened when it dripped off her fingers, and onto the tabletop and began bubbling and smoking, before clearing away to reveal it had eaten through the paint on the tabletop. Her gaze snapped back to Kara, and then over to Megan, suddenly realizing what that drink would have done to _her_.

Kara, oblivious to her thoughts of near-death, took a long swig of the liquid, smacked her lips, and sighed. “That really hits the spot.” She glanced over to Lena. “Go ahead, try yours.”

Lena stared at the strange drink for a long moment, glancing back to Kara once more, before she screwed her eyes shut, and took a long sip of the Bgtzlian Tonic.

At first, it seemed rather normal. Little fizzies tickling the roof of her mouth and back of her throat, the liquid creamy with almost a tropical taste to it. As if someone had mixed together sparkling water and thick coconut milk. As she swallowed, however, things got strange. The effervescence changed to almost a tingling sensation down her esophagus, and into her stomach, and the creamy tropical taste it had begun with, changed to an intensely almost-minty aftertaste on her tongue.

Her wide eyes met Kara’s questioning ones, and she found herself smiling. “That’s actually really good.”

“I know, right? Megan told me the first time I tried it, that on Bgtzl, it’s actually alcoholic and tastes totally different, but here it’s not. Something to do with when they phase it out of their dimension and into ours, makes it change.”

Lena could feel her jaw dropping. “W-wait, their dimension? There are… other dimensions? I mean, there are theories, but you’re saying it’s real?”

“Oh, totally. It’s not like a completely alternate universe or anything – those are a completely different animal. But Bgtzl is… I guess in human terms, it’s just slightly out of phase with the rest of the universe. Like, they’re here, we could see them if we went to Bgtzl, but their molecules, their electrons, their quarks, are just out of phase with everything in our dimension. If we went there and tried to land on the planet without their help, we’d fall right through the ground. Same for them with us. They have some technology that lets them change the orientation and charge of their molecules to interact with us and enter our dimension, and there’s even a few Bgtzlians who can mentally control their molecules and shift back and forth between dimensions. Since I came to Earth I’ve always wondered if the ‘ghosts’ people see here are a similar phenomenon.”

“Kara that’s… that’s amazing. Just think what that could mean for Earth technology if we managed to harness something like that. You could phase cargo out of our dimension, find some way to transport it, we’d be able to move things for a fraction of the cost and energy expenditure,” Lena breathed, her mind racing with the implications of not just that technology but the idea of an entire alien species living just out of synch with the rest of them.

Kara’s eyes lit up, and she used a finger to push her glasses back up the bridge of her nose. “I know, right? It’s amazing. I was actually planning to do a…. hm, I guess a thesis is the closest word for it… a thesis on their abilities and cross-dimensional travel for my induction into the Science Guild on my planet before-“ Her gaze dimmed as she broke off, moving away from Lena, and down to study her fingers as they played with the rim of her bottle of extraterrestrial lager.

Lena felt her heart drop at the sudden shift in expressions, wondering what caused it. “Kara…” she said softly, reaching out a hand toward her, before she second-guessed herself and retracted it.

The part of her brain telling her to get the hell out of the bar had found itself shoved to the back of her awareness. There was something about Kara. Something… magnetic. She found herself wanting to stay there, wanting to learn more about this beautiful stranger. Perhaps just sit there all night and listen to her talk, learn what caused her previously-sunny gaze to shutter itself. And perhaps craziest of all, maybe try to get her number.

‘ _My god you’re such a useless lesbian’_ , that now-distant part of her brain said with exasperation, giving up on even trying to appeal to her flight-or-fight instincts in this bar.

Kara shook her head and took another long drink of her bottle. “Sorry, Lena, sometimes I get caught up in the past.”

“I certainly know that feeling. Could you… could you tell me about your planet? I- I mean, feel free to say no – “

Kara smiled softly and leaned forward on her elbows. “It’s fine, Lena. My planet was, well, I loved it. In many ways it was so different than Earth. We had a red supergiant sun that filled the sky during daytime. Things were colored differently – there was hardly anything green there, not like on Earth – gosh, it was so weird coming here and seeing all of the earth plants.” 

“Oh! We had three moons. The best times were when their orbits had them all on one side of the planet, each of them reflecting our star’s light at night. There was a fourth but, well, it was destroyed a long time before I was born, but the rubble from it made a ring in its former orbit. Sorta like the little rings Jupiter has, you know? You could only really see it in the city I lived in when it was winter, and our axis was tilted enough to catch it from an angle.”

Kara sighed, a wide smile on her face, her eyes having never left Lena’s as she described the world she had come from. “It was so beautiful there. Oh, Lena, we had actual moving forests. Right across the equator, they would migrate from one end of the continent they were on to the other, to catch the rains in different seasons. My father would stop everything he was working on every mid-spring, and take me out to camp near the end of their migratory route for a week, and we’d just sit there and watch them as they walked past us and around us.”

“Like Ents?” Lena found herself asking, the image leaping into her mind the minute Kara described them. And then felt like slapping herself on the forehead at-

“Yes!” Kara’s hands abandoned the bottle and reached across to suddenly grab Lena’s hands in excitement. “Yes, like Ents! Only without the talking, because they didn’t talk, at least not in a language we could understand. But otherwise, Mr. Tolkien captured the idea perfectly.”

Lena could feel the back of her neck heating up at the sudden contact with Kara, and she glanced down at their now-intertwined hands for a short moment before meeting Kara’s gaze once again. “That’s so… It sounds wonderful there, Kara. Have you been back to your planet? Since you came to Earth, I mean.”

And there it was, that dimming of Kara’s eyes again, only this time Lena could feel Kara’s fingers tense against her own, hard enough that she began to wonder just how strong this woman was.

“I… I can’t, Lena. My planet, it’s gone. Destroyed. I’m one of the few of my kind that are left,” she said, unshed tears glistening in her eyes in the low light of the bar. “My parents, they sent me here, for a chance at life, but they c-couldn’t, ah, couldn’t come along.”

Lena swallowed thickly, feeling tears prickle at her own eyes when Kara’s voice broke ever so slightly. ‘ _Good one, Luthor, she was so excited, and then of course you’d pick the one topic that is completely heartbreaking for the poor alien that’s taken a liking to you. Of, fucking, course.’_

“God, Kara, I’m so sorry, I – I had no idea,” she managed to stutter out, and tried squeezing the girl’s hands tightly, hoping to show at least some bit of comfort or empathy. “I shouldn’t have asked, you don’t have to say anything else.”

Kara’s gaze locked on their hands clasped on the table, and she sucked in a shaky breath. “It’s okay, you didn’t know. And… well I guess I don’t talk about it much to people, but actually even though it still hurts some, it actually feels good to talk to you about it. I- I think you’re the only person I’ve ever told about the moving forest. Honestly, I almost forgot about it until I was talking with you. There’s so much, so much I try to keep in my mind, to keep alive in my memories. But I know I’ve forgotten things already. It’s been years, and it’s hard to keep everything fresh in my mind. So actually, I’m glad we’re talking about it.”

Lena nodded carefully and smoothed a thumb across the back of one of Kara’s hands. “Can I ask, how old were you?”

“I was, well, we had a different way of telling time there, so it can be hard to express it in Earth terms, but I’m pretty sure I was basically thirteen or fourteen Earth years old?”

Lena cocked her head. “You said you were planning a thesis, for, what was it, a Science council? Is that something for teenagers or… I mean it sounds like a pretty official thing.”

“Science Guild,” Kara corrected, and then ducked her head slightly. “You’re right, it was certainly a big thing, one of the biggest Guilds on the planet, with the best scientists. The top scientists in more, uh, well known families like mine, even served on the High Council, which was basically our government. I was going to be the youngest member ever. Mother and Father were so proud,” she finishes fondly.

“They were both scientists as well?”

“Father was. He specialized in biological sciences. Mother was, well I guess a little like a mix between a lawyer and a judge here on earth? Our legal system was much different than anything I’ve heard of on this planet”

“Thank you for telling me,” Lena said softly, feeling as if she had just been let into a very private world, and wondering if she was even remotely worthy. And then her breath caught in her throat, realizing Kara probably was trusting her with this because she thought she was a fellow alien. Rather than the sister of Lex Luthor, heir to the Luthor legacy.

‘ _Fuck. I can’t do this. I have to get out of here, I can’t keep letting her spill her guts to me when she doesn’t even know who I am.’_

That was what she thought to herself at least, but barely a moment later, she felt Kara’s hands squeeze hers again, and saw her chewing on her lower lip, and any thought of escape from the situation flew out the window.

“What about you, Lena? Where are you from?”

“Earth!” she blurts, and then her eyes widen at her treacherous mouth.

“Oh, you were born here? That’s awesome, that means you didn’t have to worry about adapting to everything here. Your parents, are….”

“I never knew my biological father. But my mother, she raised me, in a small town in Ireland,” Lena said, carefully measuring her words.

Kara’s eyes widened at that. “I _thought_ I heard a little bit of an accent. But it’s hard with earth accents sometimes to tell.” Then her eyes widened even further, and a grin spread across her face.

“What?”

“N-nothing,” Kara replied, trying but failing miserably to stifle her grin.

“What is it?” Lena asked, starting to smile herself, just from looking at Kara’s attempts to hide her rather contagious grin.

Kara’s eyes were downright sparkling as she leaned forward, as if she was about to tell Lena a big secret. “I just, I need to ask,” she says, voice low enough that Lena found herself leaning in with her just to hear. “Coul’ ye give me, yer pot ‘o gold?” she finished, voice changing to a rather atrocious imitation of an Irish accent.

A giggle escaped Lena’s lips, and she was so surprised, she slapped a hand over her mouth at the sound. She could not remember the last time she’d ever giggled, other than when she was very young, playing games with Lex, when he would make silly faces at her while he taught her how to play chess. No, not since Lillian had heard them one day, and come into the room, a stern look on her face, and told Lena that only little girls giggle, and that she was to be a proper lady, and that it was time for her to grow up.

And here she was, at a table in a bar filled with beings that likely hated her guts, outright giggling at her new friend’s antics. ‘ _What is my life right now_?’

A glance to Kara revealed the grin had grown into a wide smile at her reaction. “K-Kara, oh lord, you’re a dork. I most certainly am _not_ a Leprechaun, and I do not have any pots of gold.”

Kara sat back and pouted – and oh, that look could have melted even the hardest of hearts.

“Fine,” Kara sighed over-dramatically. “I guess you’re too pretty to be a Leprechaun anyway.”

Lena’s head snapped up at that, and she stared at Kara, her heart back to beating nearly as fast as it had when Kara had first startled her, a blush forming on her cheeks. And from the looks of Kara’s suddenly-round eyes, and growing blush, Lena was fairly sure she hadn’t meant to actually say that.

“A-anyway,” Kara blustered. “Where were we – oh, right! Your mom, in Ireland!”

Lena chuckled at her rather obvious attempt to quickly change the subject, and suddenly wondered if perhaps the crush that she was developing on this woman might be returned.

She shook her head and picked up on Kara’s prompting. “Yes, my mom. She was… she was very caring, very loving, and warm, from what I can remember. She died, when I was four, and I was adopted into a family here in the States. My adoptive father, well, I came to love him as my own father. The same with my new brother, though we’ve… drifted away from each other in recent years. My adoptive mother… we never saw eye to eye. I never saw her as a mother, and she never really saw me as a daughter, not really. I was the stray her husband brought in, and she tolerated me, but little more than that.”

“I’m sorry she was like that,” Kara said softly, reclaiming Lena’s loose hand and bringing it back to join their other hands in a messy jumble on the table. “And that you lost your birth mother. But at least you had a decent relationship with your adoptive father and brother.” 

“I was adopted too,” Kara confided then. “When I got here, everything was so strange, so scary, and I’d just lost… well, everything. And my new family, they took me in, and helped me adjust, learn this new planet and its strange customs, and… I’ll always love my mother and my father, but I also truly love my adoptive family as if they were my own. Now, don’t get me wrong, my sister and I – oh, she hated my guts at the start, hated the intruder to her family taking up her parent’s attention and time, and being expected to look out for me. But it wasn’t too long before we bonded, and now we’re pretty much inseparable, but also know just how to drive one another crazy,” Kara finished with a grin.

“That’s how my brother and I were,” Lena found herself admitting, despite the warning bells going off in the back of her mind at sharing this. “But then he, well, he’s in prison now, and I haven’t talked to him. I don’t know if I can, after what he did, but I still, I still love him.”

Kara looked at her sympathetically and reached back to grab her bottle. “My family, we had a motto. _El Mayarah._ ” Kara’s voice shifted, to an almost musical-like accent as she spoke the words. “It basically means Stronger Together. So here’s to family and friends, lost and found. _El Mayarah_.”

Lena inclined her head, and grabbed her glass, raising it to clink against Kara’s bottle. She took another sip of her own drink, this time knowing what to expect and relishing the sensation.

“So, what do you do for work?” Kara asked, after a long moment of silence, and Lena nearly choked as she took another sip of her drink.

 _‘Stay calm, stay calm, stay calm_.’

“I, um, I run a tech company. I’m working on a lot of projects, but our biggest one right now is developing very efficient solar windows that you can install into office buildings, so they’ll collect solar energy like a solar panel,” she settled for, hoping that the details would distract Kara from asking what company.

Kara’s eyes lit up. “Oh, that’s amazing. Earth solar power is so interesting. On my planet our sun was a big part of our society, but the rays were much weaker than Earth’s, so we never really developed any technology to collect power from it. So is your company here in National City?”

“Not yet,” Lena said quickly. “We’re planning to move here, though. I’m actually in town getting everything in line with the city, and the landlord leasing us our new building.”

“Awesome! That means I get to see more of you!” Kara said excitedly, and then froze, this time her entire face turning red. “I-I mean, if you want to, of course, I’m not trying to say you have to see me again, I…. Well, anytime you want to come here, you’re definitely welcome back.”

“I’d like to see you again,” Lena confessed softly, hating herself for it, yet unable to admit anything else. ‘ _How long can I hide who I am from her? Hell, the press conference tomorrow is going to be all over the news, she’ll probably figure it out then. And then I_ won’t _see her again because she’ll know who I am. And she’ll know I lied to her. Hell, she’ll probably think I was here to spy on them all.’_ She opened her mouth, and nearly impulsively spilled her secret right then and there.

But then Kara was talking again, and she lost the nerve. “So, you’re like, the head of your company? That’s, like, wow, you’re really young for that, aren’t you? N-not to say you’re too young to do it, because obviously you’re capable, and I’m sure you’re an amazing boss, and-“

Lena chuckled. “Yes, I _am_ very young to be a CEO. But I’ve been working in the field for a number of years now. I graduated MIT with a Masters in Electrical Engineering when I was 19, and ran my own startup with a friend of mine before I got this position.”

“Oh, wow,” Kara’s voice was low, with an almost breathless quality. “That’s really early. Right? I mean my sister’s really smart but she didn’t even go on to her Masters until she was 21. That’s like youngest-member-of-the-Science-Guild kinda stuff.”

“I guess,” Lena shrugged, feeling suddenly shy under Kara’s impressed gaze. “My brother and my father always pushed me to be my best in my education, and, well, I enjoy the field of work I chose. What about you? I assume you’re a scientist of some sort now?”

Kara seemed to tense at that, and then her shoulders drooped a little as she seemed to deflate inward on herself. “Actually, I’m… I’m not. When I came here, my adoptive family, they… they tried so hard to help me, to keep me safe. I mean, there’s a lot of bad people out there who would like to get someone from my species into their lab, to dissect us, see what makes us tick, turn me into a test subject. So, I had to learn how to act normal, not draw attention to myself. And our science, our technology on my planet was, um, a lot more advanced than a lot of the stuff here on Earth.”

“So I just,” she shrugged, and Lena saw the barest of frowns touch her lips for a moment before disappearing. “never really pursued it professionally. I mean, I love reading up on things, especially new technologies here, but that’s about it.”

Lena chewed the inside of her lip, at the thought of someone who was so clearly intelligent as Kara was, hiding herself, perhaps avoiding pursuing her dreams and her potential, because there were people out there who would want to exploit her. Lena knew, sadly, that Kara was right. That there were people like Lex who would gladly capture her and experiment on her, simply for being an alien. Apparently one with rather durable skin and innards if that drink of hers said anything.

“Right now, though,” Kara broke through her thoughts, continuing her own train of thought. “I’m sort of lost. I’ve been a personal assistant to Cat Grant for the last two years– you know her, the head of CatCo?” At Lena’s nod, she continued. “It’s actually been a really good learning experience, but now she’s, well, I guess taking a sabbatical pretty much. And so now she’s putting me in my own office and pretty much told me it’s time to move on and that I can work in essentially any department I want.”

“But you can’t decide?” Lena asked, after seeing the uncomfortable look on her face as she talks about Cat’s offer.

“It’s hard, you know?” Kara huffed. “I’ve spent years trying to just fit in, adapt, be normal, and now I don’t even know what I want to do with my life. There’s so many departments that I’d probably be fine working in – accounting, marketing, HR…. But I kinda…”

“Hmm? I think it sounds like you have something in mind.”

“Journalism. I like the idea of it. It’s not a concept we had on my planet. The idea of a free press that could question the Council, the government, that could investigate and hold them responsible for their decisions and actions and make sure people know what is going on. I… I think my planet might have been saved if we had it. The Council, they made a lot of bad decisions near the end. But here, especially in America, journalism – _real_ journalism and the free press is such an amazing concept. And I kinda want to do that, but, I guess, I’m a little afraid. That I won’t be good enough, that I’ll mess it up, that I can’t write good articles or manage my way through an interview. You know?”

Lena sucked in a breath as Kara’s troubled blue eyes met her gaze. “I do. When I took this position as CEO, I was so afraid that I’d screw it up. Hell, I still am. But all we can do is try our best. If journalism is what you think you might like, I think you should go for it. You clearly have the mind for it, and honestly, the world could use some real, honest people who care about that profession these days. And, maybe think about focusing on science and technology. That way you’re doing what you feel passionate about, and also get to cover the subject you grew up loving.”

Kara stared at her. And kept staring, jaw slightly ajar revealing her perfect little white teeth. She kept staring for so long, that Lena grew concerned that she had said something wrong, or that Kara had taken her suggestion the wrong way. “Kara?”

That seemed to get her attention, because the next moment almost too swiftly for Lena to even register, she was leaning over to Lena and pulling her into a _very_ firm hug, hands around Lena’s back to tug her closer, as Lena let out a squeak of surprise at the sudden hug. “Oh, Lena that’s an amazing idea. I can’t believe I never thought of it. I think, I think that’s what I’m gonna do.”

“Y-you’re welcome,” Lena gasped out, because the hug was perhaps a little _too_ tight, but she didn’t complain, and even tried her best to hug the other woman back, relishing the surprise contact. The only thing in her mind was the feeling of Kara’s warm, muscled frame pressing against her, and the fragrance of vanilla and cinnamon that filled her nose when she inhaled against Kara’s shoulder.

Kara squeezed her, and then pulled back, and seemed to notice Lena’s quite flushed face. “Sorry, I’m kinda a hugger. I should have asked you.”

“It’s fine, I just wasn’t expecting it,” Lena reassured her, patting the back of one of Kara’s hands, as she tried to compose herself.

Kara smiled. “Seriously, thank you for suggesting that, you just like,” She reached up both of her hands to near her forehead in fists, and then opened them, waving her fingers making a cute little explosion sound as she did. “That’s like, literally exactly what I needed to hear right now. I’m gonna think about that some more but I think that’s…. that’s what I wanted and didn’t even realize.”

Kara set both her palms on the tabletop, and then pushed herself up. “Okay,” she grabbed her now nearly-empty bottle from the table. “I’m gonna use the bathroom, ‘cuz that last bottle went through me really quick, and then I’m going to order us some more drinks. Wait here?” she asked, and then seemed to hold her breath, waiting for Lena’s answer.

Lena glanced at her own drink, less than half full, and then back to Kara, lips curling into a wide smile as she realized Kara was making sure she wasn’t overstepping, and was giving Lena an out if she wanted to leave. “I’m up for another round. With you.”

Kara gave her a thumbs up. “Okay, I’ll be quick. Same drink or you want me to surprise you?”

Lena’s left eyebrow rose as she studied the woman in front of her. “Well… surprise me, but remember, human-level stuff.”

“Got it, see ya in a minute!” Kara said, before scurrying off toward the bathroom. 

Lena watched the jean-clad retreating form with great interest until she disappeared through the bathroom door. She sighed, rolling her eyes at herself, and took to trying to finish off her drink before Kara returned.

And then, as her eyes drifted away from that bathroom door, and back across the bar, she realized she had become so caught up in her conversation with the sunny blonde, that she had completely forgotten where she was. ‘ _Right. Alien bar. With the friendliest alien I could ever imagine meeting.’_

She ducked her head and kept at her drink. Hopefully, maybe, after this drink, she would manage to leave without being recognized. And then probably have to live with having developed an unrequited crush on an alien girl once said alien girl realized who she was. ‘ _Oh, god, I pretty much told her she should become a journalist and cover literally the industry I’m in. She’ll be at press conferences, and dinners, and writing about the company, and writing about what a lying, stupid, stupid Luthor I am for not being honest with her, and-‘_

She glanced up, and whatever train of thought she had hopped on was derailed off a bridge and into a canyon. Because Kara had come back out of the restroom, and was leaning, one elbow on the bar, as she ordered more drinks. And at some point in the bathroom she’d pulled her hair out of her bun, and now that dark blonde hair was practically cascading down her shoulders, shimmering in the lights above the bar.

And then, she looked away from Megan, back in Lena’s direction, and a goofy grin stretched across her lips, and she raised a hand to wave at her, and Lena just _cannot_ with this girl.

So caught up in cursing herself, and Kara, for the butterflies that were dancing around in her stomach after that simple wave, Lena didn’t notice the large alien at the end of the bar stand up, didn’t notice him start to walk to the door, and then stop in his tracks. Didn’t notice him walk over until suddenly his towering frame was standing directly in front of her, and she realized this was the four-armed alien that had first tipped her off to what this place truly was. And she realized her fears had just manifested into reality.

“Hey.” The alien said gruffly, and seemed to get even taller, and a quick glance led Lena to realize he had green, almost buglike features, and that the entire time he’d been at the bar, his midsection had been hunched over, almost folded over on itself. Now, though, it unfolded, and his head, with a dozen tiny eyes, nearly brushed the ceiling.

“I know you, don’t I? You’re on that teevee. Weren’t you?”

Lena sucked in a shaky breath, stuck out her jaw. “I don’t know what you mean. You must have me mistaken for someone else, sir.”

He leaned closer, his insectoid abdomen allowing him to lean fully across the table, his black eyes gleaming in the low light of the bar. He jabbed one of his arms forward, using one of the tiny chitin-covered digits to point inches from her face. 

“No,” he said, much louder this time, and she could feel eyes drawn to her table all around the bar. “You are, aren’t you. You’re Lena Luthor. I thought you looked familiar when I came in. You’re that bastard Lex Luthor’s sister,” he growled. “What do you think you’re doing here in _our_ bar? Come to kill us like him?”

Lena gulped as his other arms came to bear, not pointing like the one currently inches from her face, but curving up in a way that – rather horrifyingly – reminded her of a preying mantis preparing to pounce on its prey. ‘ _This is it. This is how it ends_.’

“I didn’t, I’m not-“

And then suddenly a gust of wind blew her hair around her face, and Kara was there in a split second, far too fast for any human to have moved. And the menacing alien’s hand was no longer in her face. Kara had it gripped in one of her hands, and Lena watched as she carefully, but firmly, pushed it back, and up, toward the burly alien’s body, with not a single sign of strain on her face, as if she was manhandling a children’s doll, rather than an alien that had to be easily three times her weight and close to twice her height.

“No,” Kara said, and chills shot down Lena’s back. Because that was not the soft, bubbly, gentle voice she had heard in their conversation together. It was firm, commanding, unyielding. ‘ _And a fucking turn-on_.’

“K-Kara,” the tall alien said, what looked like shock, painted on his face. “She’s-“

“No, G’utt’al;gab,” Kara said – apparently his name, which she pronounced complete with clicks and grunts as she did so. “This is a place of refuge. We welcome _everyone_ here, and I’ve been talking to her all night. You do not get to threaten her.”

The alien – whose name Lena knew she had little hope remembering let alone pronouncing – jerked back, and then stood back up to his full height, glaring at Lena over Kara’s head. She shrank back, realizing her fate rested entirely in Kara’s hands at this point, because if he – and likely most of the others in this bar – had his way, she may very well end up as his dessert.

“Kara, this is Lena _Luthor_. Her brother, her company, have brought endless devastation on people like us. Kara, you should know that better than anyone! Her brother tried to _murder_ your cousin with that robot suit of his. She’s probably here to do the same to you – they _hate_ Kryptonians!”

Lena felt dozens of alarm bells begin to go off in her head, and her shocked gaze snapped up to look at Kara, managing a side-profile look at her as she still held onto the alien’s wrist. And between Kara’s recently-let-down hair, the firm jaw, and the alien’s words, Lena realized _exactly_ who her new alien friend was. 

_‘You’ve literally been talking to, and crushing on, Supergirl.’_ That voice in her head returned. ‘ _My god, Lena, you’re a fucking idiot. And a hopeless lesbian. Only you. Only bloody you, could get yourself into this mess.’_

“Lena is not her brother,” Kara said heatedly, surprising Lena out of her thoughts. “Lena is not her family. You can’t hold her responsible for something someone else did, just because they’re related to her. Just like I would _never_ think of holding you responsible for what your cousin did.”

Whatever that was, it made the alien take a staggering step back as if Kara had just rammed a truck into him.

Kara seemed to take that as a signal that she could let go of his wrist, and she stepped back, crossing her arms over her chest, and with that stance Lena felt like slamming her head into the table over not noticing earlier how much she looked like the Girl of Steel. Glasses and her hair in a bun, and normal clothes. That was literally her disguise.

“Look, I’m not asking you to like her. I’m not asking you to talk to her. I’m just asking you to respect the values of this gathering place. Plenty of other humans come here, many of them to find a place that accepts them where society does not. And we welcome them here. Lena is no different. And if nothing else, I’m asking you to trust _me_ when I tell you that she means none of us any harm.”

There was a long few minutes of pure silence across the entire bar, punctuated only by the soft music of the juke box. And by Lena’s heart, pounding in her ears. Honestly, she’d given up wondering what her life was at this point. A Luthor, in an alien bar, being defended by Supergirl, of all possible people.

The bug alien grunted, and lowered his arms, his torso folding back down. “Fine. I… I trust you, Kara.”

“Good,” Kara relaxed her stance, her arms dropping to her sides. “And I’d like to hear an apology to Lena as well.”

Lena’s eyes bulged. “N-no, that’s really not ne-“

The alien’s bug mouth let out a series of clicks and whistles, and then he looked over at Lena, crossing both sets of arms. “Sorry, Lena,” he said, looking for all the world like a big grumpy bug-child that had been scolded by his parents.

Kara nodded, and then clapped her hands together as if she were clapping the dust from them after a long day’s work. “Thank you, G’utt’al;gab. Now, shouldn’t you be getting home to your mate? She told me last week that she hates when you spend too much time here and not enough time with your broodlings.”

That made him fully deflate, his shoulders falling, and then he nodded, and shuffled off toward the door to the bar.

Kara watched him go for a minute, a satisfied smile on her lips, and then glanced around at the entire bar, its patrons still staring at her. “Okay, okay, nothing to see here, sorry for the disturbance, go on, go back to enjoying your night,” she said, waving her hands around at them until the noise in the bar began to come back to near-normal, whispered conversations picking up, the sound of billiards hitting into one another returning.

Kara glanced at Lena, and then blurred out of existence for a moment, only to reappear the next with two bottles in her hands. “Here,” she set one down in front of Lena, who saw it was some sort of beer.

She sat back down in the chair next to Lena, looking for all the world as if nothing had just happened.

“So. Lena Luthor, huh?” she blurted out, destroying the illusion just as swiftly as she’d created it.

“Yes,” Lena said, scratching a nail at the corner of the paper label of the bottle she had just been given, before she screwed up the courage to meet Kara’s gaze with a raised eyebrow. “So. Supergirl, huh?” she asked, mimicking the other woman’s question.

Kara’s ears turned red, and she scratched the back of her head in embarrassment at the recognition. “Guilty as charged,” she said, and then a second later seemed to register her words, and her eyes widened and she waved her hands in front of her frantically. “Sorry, sorry, that was super insensitive and I was totally not thinking about Lex when I said it, and-“

Lena chuckled at the real-time display of Kara’s mind at work. “Kara, there’s nothing to apologize for, it’s just a saying.”

She sighed, and then something crossed her mind that had not thus far. “Kara… did you…? Did you know who I was when you came over to talk to me? Was this all,” she waved her hands aimlessly around between the two of them, and the table they sat at, “was this all you trying to see what I was doing here?”

“What?” Kara gasped, looking almost insulted. “No, Lena, absolutely not. I didn’t even realize who you were until G’utt’al;gab said it. I mean, I probably should have, I’ve seen you on the news, in the papers about the trial and all that, but I promise, I didn’t recognize you.”

Lena exhaled out a relieved tone, and tension left her body that she had not realized had even been there. Their… whatever this had been… had been natural, and that was somehow reassuring to her. That this was real, the things she had been feeling, the connection she’d felt. Even though it was crazier than any scenario her mind could have come up with.

“For the record,” Lena replied, “I didn’t realize you were Supergirl until he said something about your cousin and Lex, either. Well, that and your superspeed, and you pushing him around like he was a feather. And, as for Lex, he’s… he’s where he belongs now – he dug that grave, now he gets to lie in it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. For quite some time there I wasn't sure I'd ever write anything again. It's been literally years since my last fic. But this little fic suddenly burst into my brain this last week, and for the first time in a long time I felt the urge to complete it.
> 
> I've already got the second chapter of this two-shot written (Kara's POV, overlapping slightly with the end of this first chapter), I just have to edit it and should have it posted in a couple days.
> 
> I do have little ideas for a third chapter that might happen at some point, but right now I'm just glad to have written what I have. Hopefully I've got my mojo back.


	2. Kara

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, thank you so much for the ton of great feedback and lovely comments, I really appreciate that. So, here we are, with the Kara chapter. It's not a full rehash of last chapter just in Kara's POV - it picks up shortly before the end of last chapter and moves on from there. So there's a little overlap where you get to see Kara's thoughts on it but new stuff beyond that.
> 
> Still have a couple ideas niggling at me for at least another chapter, but I don't have anything written, and I think this stands pretty well as a two-shot if I decide to not go further. We shall see.
> 
> Anyway, on with the chapter!

**Chapter 2: Kara**

Kara Zor-El hummed to herself as she shut off the faucet in the bar bathroom, and then grabbed a paper towel to pat her hands dry. Earlier in the night Kara had been enjoying a quiet night at sitting at the bar, relaxing from the stress of being Supergirl and the newfound and very scary situation of having to decide what she wanted for her future. In the midst of that, Megan – the bartender and someone she’d come to view as a friend over her previous visits – had come over to her after she’d made it into her third or fourth drink. She’d pointed out a lone, dark-haired figure in the corner, and told her that the woman seemed to be a bit nervous about being in the bar, and suggested Kara go over and welcome her and help her feel more at ease. “She looks like she could use a friend,” Megan had said.

And boy, was she glad for Megan. Because as she approached the table, not only did she realize the woman was nervous – no, she’d looked almost petrified when Kara had introduced herself – about being in the bar, but she’d also found herself face-to-face with possibly the most gorgeous person she’d ever seen. Dark, dark hair, and pale smooth skin, perfectly curved eyebrows, a jawline that she was pretty sure she could cut herself on despite her invulnerability, pillowy pink lips, and a two-toned blue-green gaze that had Kara making a fool of herself over throughout the night every time it met hers.

Because really, how could anyone be so gosh-darned _pretty_? There was only so much self-control she could muster. She quickly discovered that she could not help herself around Lena and had found her mouth running far ahead of her brain quite a few times throughout the night. It was utterly unfair, though a couple times, Lena seemed to be in much the same boat, and Kara found herself wondering if perhaps Lena might be just as interested in her. Or at least, in the same way.

She glanced at herself in the bathroom mirror, staring into it, wondering if she even had a chance. She frowned in concentration for a moment, and then reached up behind her head to pull out the ponytail holder that had been keeping her hair back into a bun. ‘ _There_ ,’ she thought, combing her fingers through her hair that now fell to her shoulders, trying to get it into some sort of pattern. ‘ _Definitely better. Maybe she’ll like it.’_

Kara pushed out of the bathroom, and made her way to the bar, leaning an elbow against it as her new friend occupied her thoughts, including the other observation she had made of her. Lena was _smart_. She was very smart, perhaps a genius by earth standards. And it wasn’t all talk, it wasn’t blustering bravado or an inflated _curriculum vitae_ like Kara had seen from others – typically men trying to make themselves look more important while trying to get in her pants. No, she could see it in Lena’s eyes. The calculating, always thinking, always analyzing, look in her gaze. It actually reminded Kara of her father, when he would give Kara a difficult mathematics or science problem, and watch her as she solved it, analyzing her and the methods she chose to use.

On Krypton, a mind like Lena’s would have been prized, probably as much as Kara’s own. Perhaps to the point of them even being matched together by the Matricomp. Yes, Lena was scarily intelligent, and their conversation earlier had brought up a hearty bit of self-shame, when Kara realized just how much she had abandoned her Kryptonian life, how she’d all but shunned what had been her future, in order to try to be ‘normal’.

It was the suggestion on what she could choose for work – if Cat allowed it, she realized – that Lena had given that had truly struck her. She had cut straight to the heart of the several days’ worth of waffling Kara had been doing, and somehow struck on exactly what Kara wanted to do with her life, when Kara herself had not even realized it. Kara shook her head again, already planning out what she would say when she next saw Cat, the case she’d make for becoming a journalist, and how she’d tell Cat about her passion for all things science.

“Mission Control to Kara,” Megan’s voice said suddenly, close to her ear, and she jumped, turning to look at the grinning bartender.

“I called you like three times, but you were in your own little world, staring at your new friend,” Megan said, eyebrows raising as she nodded toward where Lena was drinking the last of her Bgtzlian Tonic.

Kara laughed nervously and snapped her gaze away from Lena as it began to drift to her once more. “Sorry, just thinking. She’s actually great, and I think I got her mind off of being nervous about being here.”

“Well that’s good, because I think she was almost ready to bolt before you started talking to her. She seems like a nice girl.”

“Really nice,” Kara smiled dreamily, only to snap out of it when Megan started laughing.

“If only you could see the look on your face right now. You’re _so_ smitten.”

“N-no, take that back. I am absolutely not… smitten. She’s just really nice. And funny. And smart.”

Megan shook her head, still grinning. “Whatever you say, Kara. Now, I assume you’re here for drinks, and not just to chit-chat with me while your new friend sits over there by herself.”

“Oh! Right, drinks. Um, I think I’ve had enough of the strong stuff right now, another one and I’ll get tipsy. So, um, I guess two human-strength beers? What kind do you think she’d like?”

“Mmm, definitely seems like a dark beer kind of girl. Let me see what we have,” Megan said, and bent lower to look into one of the under-counter glass-doored refrigerators that held their bottled drinks.

Kara glanced back over to Lena, and then she saw Lena look out across the bar, scanning until she saw Kara. Kara felt a lopsided grin pull across her lips, and something kick up a flutter in her stomach. She raised a hand and waved at her new friend. ‘ _Gosh, I’m a complete goner,_ ’ she realized, as they stared at each other from across the bar.

And then her line of sight of Lena was suddenly blocked by the bulky form of G’utt’al;gab, a Cnidaxian and one of the regulars at the bar. His parents, and some of their relatives, had come to earth before she had ever even landed, and started broods of their own, away from their war-torn home planet.

Kara frowned, and straightened up when she realized he had not just blocked her view of Lena, but he was actually towering over her directly across the table from her. Kara let her tight control over her super-hearing loosen and directed her attention directly at the table.

“You must have me mistaken for someone else, sir.” She could hear Lena say, but she also heard a tremor in her voice. Fear.

G’utt’al;gab leaned closer, and pointed directly at her, seemingly agitated. “No,” he said, now loud enough that the entire bar could hear him. “You are, aren’t you. You’re Lena Luthor. I thought you looked familiar when I came in. You’re that bastard Lex Luthor’s sister. What do you think you’re doing here in _our_ bar? Come to kill us like him?”

Kara couldn’t help the gasp that escaped from her lips. She, too – the part of her that hadn’t been utterly captivated by Lena – had thought there was something familiar about her but had been unable to place it. But the moment he said the name, Kara knew he was right. Sure, she didn’t have her hair up like she often did, she wasn’t wearing her ever-present dark red lipstick, and she certainly wasn’t dressed up in a stylish dress or power suit, like in all the magazine and celebrity tabloid pictures. Hell, she wasn’t wearing any makeup at all – the blessing and curse that was Kara’s super-vision had told her that almost right away. But yes, she was very much Lena Luthor.

And honestly? It did not bother Kara one bit. She had just gotten to know Lena, gotten to see a very real peek into who she was. Her last name really did not matter. She could see that Lena was a good person, inside and out.

So, when G’utt’al;gab raised his other arms in what Kara immediately realized was an ambush stance, her eyes widened, and she darted across the room almost quick enough to make a sonic boom. She grabbed his hand with one of her own, and easily managed to push it back toward his body with little effort expended.

“No.” She knew he was a gentle soul at heart and knew that standing against him like this would change his demeanor rather quickly. She also knew that she would not let anyone here harm a hair on Lena’s head now that they knew who she was.

“K-Kara,” he said, shocked at both her sudden appearance and her actions.

“No, G’utt’al;gab. This is a place of refuge,” she said, hoping reminding the room of this would defuse the situation. “We welcome _everyone_ here, and I’ve been talking to her all night. You do not get to threaten her.”

G’utt’al;gab clearly did not like that, and he jerked back, rising up to his full height once more. Kara could see the glare he shot over her head toward Lena, and oh, _oh_ , she could hear Lena’s heart beating so fast it was a wonder it hadn’t escaped her chest yet. Lena was scared. Terrified that Kara perhaps would back down and let her be harmed. Scared that she was surrounded by many more people who potentially _meant_ her harm.

“Kara, this is Lena _Luthor_ ,” G’utt’al;gab pleaded with her, stressing the last name. “Her brother, her company, has brought endless devastation on people like us. Kara, you should know that better than everyone! Her brother tried to _murder_ your cousin with that robot suit of his. She’s probably here to do the same to you – they _hate_ Kryptonians.”

Kara grit her teeth at that reminder of Lex and Kal-El, and heard Lena’s heart skip a beat, her breathing stutter, and she guessed that Lena had just put two and two together and realized who _she_ was. Perhaps they were both equally oblivious dunces.

“Lena is _not_ her brother.” Kara said, anger bubbling in her chest at the touchy subject. Just as she was not her father. Or her aunt. 

“Lena is not her family. You can’t hold her responsible for something someone else did, just because they’re related to her. Just like I would _never_ think of holding you responsible for what your cousin did,” she said, hoping that low blow would make him understand. 

There had been a string of corner store and bodega robberies, that had grown more and more aggressive a few months ago, until they resulted in one of the victims having all of their limbs broken by the assailant before being beaten into a coma. When Kara finally caught him, it had turned out to be G’utt’al;gab’s cousin, from his Uncle’s brood. It had been quite shocking to the entire Cnidaxian community, especially G’utt’al;gab who had been close to his cousin.

G’utt’al;gab took a staggering step backward, and Kara let go of his wrist, knowing she had gotten through to him. His mandibles around his maw of a mouth worked for a long minute as she crossed her arms and let him think through what he was going to do next.

“Look,” Kara finally said, not in her firm, demanding Supergirl voice, but her pleading Kara Danvers voice that most of the aliens in the bar had come to know as she befriended them after she’d discovered this place.

“I’m not asking you to like her. I’m not asking you to talk to her,” she said, before continuing her plea for them to respect the values their little community was built on, just like they did with every other human that came into it. Before she asked them to trust _her_ , and her judgement that Lena would not do them any harm.

G’utt’al;gab finally relented, saying he trusted her, and then she coaxed a reluctant apology out of him – over Lena’s protestations that it wasn’t needed. He finally skittered off, and out the bar, when she reminded him of his own wife and broodlings that were waiting for him at home.

Kara let out an inaudible sigh, and after enough stern looks and urgings, the rest of the bar returned to somewhat normal, though she did see a few wary gazes still being directed toward Lena.

She darted to the bar, where Megan had placed their beers, and then back to Lena’s table with her superspeed, setting down one beer in front of Lena, holding the other as she sat back down next to her.

“So. Lena Luthor, huh?”

‘ _Gosh, I really don’t know how to be delicate.’_

“Yes,” Lena admitted, not meeting her gaze as she fidgeted with her beer label. “So. Supergirl, huh?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

Kara nearly laughed at how she had turned it around on her, and self-consciously scratched at the back of her head, wondering how this would change things. Because this was _big_. They were not just Lena and Kara having a fun time now. They were Lena Luthor and Supergirl. And she wasn’t sure what to do with that. 

“Guilty as charged,” Kara said reflexively, and then realized that was probably _incredibly_ in poor taste given Lex’s recent sentencing, and began to wave her hands in front of herself, as if trying to whisk the words right back into her mouth. “Sorry, sorry, that was super insensitive and I was totally not thinking about Lex when I said it, and-“

Lena’s chuckle made her tense up, and then relax, as she realized the other woman had not taken it that way. “Kara, there’s nothing to apologize for, it’s just a saying.”

A frown on Lena’s lips a moment later, with a furrowing of her brows brought Kara to full attention. “Kara… did you…? Did you know who I was when you came over to talk to me? Was this all,” she waved her hands between them, “was this all you trying to see what I was doing here?”

“What?” Kara gasped, a little shocked at the question, before realizing that it certainly could look that way to her rather than the bizarre coincidence that it was, so she quickly tried to dispel that notion from her new friend’s mind. “No, Lena, absolutely not. I didn’t even realize who you were until G’utt’al;gab said it. I mean, I probably should have, I’ve seen you on the news, in the papers about the trial and all that, but I promise, I didn’t recognize you.”

Lena sighed, and her shoulders seemed to sink in relief, and Kara wanted nothing more than to give her another hug like the one she had earlier that night. But right now, she was not sure how Lena would react to that. 

“For the record,” Lena said slowly, “I didn’t realize you were Supergirl until he said something about your cousin and Lex, either. Well, that and your superspeed, and you pushing him around like he was a feather. And, as for Lex, he’s… he’s where he belongs now – he dug that grave, now he gets to lie in it.”

Kara’s eyes widened at that statement when things finally fully clicked in her mind. In lieu of a hug, she grabbed up Lena’s hands in her own once more and squeezed tightly. “Ohmigosh, Lena, he was the brother you were talking about, that you drifted away from. I’m so sorry. Kal – er, my cousin, told me he was friends with him once, and that something changed in him, that he wasn’t always like that.”

Lena nodded, and Kara’s heart clenched at the sight of tears in her eyes. “He wasn’t,” she said, her voice thick and shakier than Kara had heard from her before, as if she was about to start crying. “He was so smart. And so kind. My father brought me to the manor, after he adopted me and flew us in from Ireland. He introduced me to Lex, and said ‘Lex, this is your new sister, Lena’. And Lex didn’t even blink. He just tilted his head, smiled at me, and grabbed my hand, and brought me over to some toys he’d been playing with, and just… started playing with me as if we’d been brother and sister all our lives.”

“I loved him so much, and I looked up to him. He was older than me, and I was so proud of him for every award and achievement he made at school as we grew up and he made me want to excel myself. It was only a few years ago that we started to drift apart. He stopped spending time to visit me, and our calls and texts slowed down to a trickle. And when I would visit him, all he could talk about were –” Lena glanced around the bar, a guilty look on her face “– aliens.” 

She sighed mournfully. “He was obsessed, convinced they were a threat, and then he started to talk about Superman, he said that all it would take was one change of heart and he’d be a tyrant. I… he hated that hero worship, hated that people trusted and looked up to Superman rather than him as one of the most influential businessmen in the city. I just – I didn’t know what to do, and we just kept drifting further apart. Maybe if I’d said something, done something, he wouldn’t have done what he did, but-“

Kara scooted her chair next to Lena’s in a blink of an eye, close enough that she could feel Lena’s warm leg pressing against hers. And then she lifted one hand away from holding Lena’s, and up to press a finger to Lena’s lips - ‘ _oh, wow, they’re soft’ -_ before she put anymore blame on herself.

“Lena, no, what he did, is not your fault. Sometimes… sometimes people we love do things we can’t condone. That’s their choice. It’s on them, not us.”

“I know,” Lena said with a sigh, voice muffled slightly by Kara’s finger. 

_‘Wow they’re smooth too_ ,’ Kara thought, feeling them move against her fingertip as Lena spoke before she realized that maybe it was a _little_ inappropriate and forward of her, and pulled it back. But she kept her chair where it was, enjoying the strip of warmth where their legs were touching.

“Thank you.”

Kara turned her head, eyes snapping away from Lena’s legs. “W-what for?”

Lena’s gaze was incredulous. “For what you just did, stopping him, sticking up for me. You didn’t have to. I… honestly I’m not sure I deserved it.”

“Uh-uh, no more of this downer talk, Lena. I would have stood up for you no matter who you were, because I can see you’re a _good_ person. I wasn’t making it up – this place is about acceptance and it’s meant to be a safe space for anyone to come. You’re welcome here, no matter what your last name happens to be. What brought you here, by the way?”

Lena chuckled sheepishly and ducked her head. “I was just looking for a quiet bar with a nice atmosphere, to celebrate finalizing everything for the company move, and I ended up in here. I was sort of in my own little world, and I had no idea it was an alien bar – hell, I first started to realize what this place was just before you came over here. I was getting close to hyperventilating, trying to figure out how to sneak out before anyone recognized me. And then, there was you, and honestly for a minute there I forgot where I was and got caught up in our conversation.”

“You didn’t correct me when I assumed you were an alien,” Kara noted.

“I-I wasn’t really sure if it was, um, against the rules, being a human and being here.”

Kara grinned, running back through the conversation in their mind, and noted that Lena had really never said anything either way. “Well, at least now you know. I… I still mean what I said. I hope you come back here. Oh!” another part of what Lena had said suddenly registered. “So, you really are moving here? Like, you, Luthorcorp, everything?”

Lena nodded, taking a slow sip of her beer. “I bought an apartment yesterday and finalized a lot of business things today. There’s a press conference tomorrow about the move, and I hope to be fully here in National City by the end of the month, but main operations should be here within a week.” 

She leaned her head closer to Kara until their cheeks were nearly touching, so close that Kara could practically feel the heat radiating from her. “And shortly after that, we’re announcing a re-naming of the company to L-Corp. I want a fresh start, away from what my brother did and what he associated the company with, and I want to put my own mark on things.”

“L-Corp. I like it,” Kara said.

“Shh, it’s a secret,” Lena nudged her shoulder into hers, a playful grin curving her pink lips.

Kara rolled her eyes and laughed. “Okay, okay, my lips are sealed. And I’m glad you’re really moving here.”

“Oh?”

She nodded firmly. “Absolutely. Otherwise I’d have to fly all the way to Metropolis every time I want to see my new friend.”

“Friends? Kara, are you sure you want-”

“Absolutely, one-hundred and fifty percent sure.”

“I don’t have many friends, and I’ve been told I don’t make it easy,” Lena warned.

“I like a challenge. And I like you. I’ll be a _super_ friend.”

Lena groaned. “Oh, I foresee I have a lot of bad puns coming in my future.”

Kara threw her head back and laughed, a full-on belly laugh. “Better get used to them. My sister has grown immune, so now everyone else is my victim.”

Lena just grinned fondly at her, shaking her head, and then squeaked when Kara poked her in the ribs in return.

Kara finished off her beer in one big gulp and glanced over toward the bar. Her eyes widened when she saw the time on the clock hanging above Megan’s head, just past midnight. She could not believe so much time had passed because it barely felt like any had while talking to Lena. “Shoot. It’s a lot later than I thought, and I have an early day with Miss Grant tomorrow. Do you want me to, um, walk you back to your apartment? Or…”

Lena glanced at the clock as well, and her eyes widened. “Oh wow, you’re right.” She glanced around the bar, and then back to Kara. “You don’t have to walk me to my place if you don’t want, but… I certainly won’t complain if you do.”

“Great,” Kara stood from her seat, and then reached out to offer a hand to Lena. Who took it, a shy smile on her face as Kara pulled her to her feet. Neither made any move to let go.

“You think you might want to come back?” Kara asked, walking as slowly as she could, wanting to enjoy the feel of Lena’s soft hand in hers.

“I-” Lena looked around the bar again, at most of the patrons who had gone back about their nights, trusting Kara’s word. “I’m honestly not sure.”

Kara gave a slight squeeze to Lena’s hand. “Alright, fair enough. But, uh, if you do, y’know, come back here and I’m not here I’ll make sure Megan knows to look out for you, okay? But honestly, the gossip mill is probably already turning, and pretty much every alien that comes here will know you’re to be accepted here.”

Lena turned her head, her pale skin illuminated green by the neon bar sign, and looked at Kara with a soft expression that made Kara melt inside. “Maybe if it was with you, I’d come back.”

“Okay. I’d like that.”

They walked together past Megan who was leaning against the far end of the bar nearest the door, and Kara waved to her as they passed. “Goodnight, Megan, see you next time.”

“Goodnight,” Megan called after them, a grin in her voice. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, girls!”

They both blushed at that, and Kara pulled Lena at a much quicker pace out the front door, knowing if they lingered, the teasing would only get worse.

She started pulling Lena down the street in a random direction, a little too embarrassed to look at her, and then she felt Lena tug back on her hand.

“Kara,” she laughed, a warm rich laugh that sent tingles up and down Kara’s spine. “Kara, you don’t even know where my apartment is, do you?”

Kara came to an abrupt stop, and could feel herself turning even more red. “S-sorry, Megan can be a little… enthusiastic when she feels like teasing me.”

Lena tugged on her hand again, leading her in exactly the opposite direction than the one in which she had been walking. “I don’t mind it. But I’m this way, and I need my big strong friend to walk me home.”

Kara followed, a half step behind at first, glancing down at their connected hands, before she matched Lena’s slow pace, deciding to enjoy it while she could.

“So,” Lena said, after nearly a block of walking in contented silence. “Do um, does _everyone_ there in the bar know about your,” she glanced around the street a moment, and lowered her voice, “your _other_ job?”

Kara was not sure if it was Lena’s clear determination and care she showed toward keeping her secret, or the fact that she had so easily accepted it and still seemed interested in being friends with her, or both. But whatever it was, Kara felt a warm glow spread in her chest at the question.

“I, well, I’m actually kinda bad at keeping it a secret, my sister says. But yeah, most everyone at the bar knows. I guess pretty early on, I helped out a few of the people who are regulars as I was, er… doing my other job. And then when I found out about the bar and went there like this, they recognized me. And, golly, Lena, I’m telling you the gossip network among aliens puts any human one to shame. Churchladies have nothing on aliens. So, unless it’s someone that the community doesn’t trust, well, they know about the other job. But it never goes beyond that – as much as they know how to gossip, they also know _when_ to keep a secret.”

“That’s actually kind of sweet. And a little funny. I wish I had a community like that. I mean, there’s Pride and everything, and I love the support I used to have, but nowadays, after what Lex did I’m honestly not sure what I’ll be facing if I go to this year’s celebration.”

Kara’s mind went blank at that little bit of information, in favor of repeating ‘ _Ohmigosh she’s gay._ ’ Over and over in her head.

“Kara?” Lena had slowed a little, head cocked in concern. “Are you – I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable.”

“No, no, no,” Kara reassured her. “Sorry, I just didn’t realize. It doesn’t make me uncomfortable at all. I’m bi. Very, very, very bi.” She squeaked out.

“Good to know,” Lena said, in an odd tone of voice that Kara couldn’t place.

Lena pulled her around a corner onto another street, and then came to a stop in front of a set of glass doors. “Well, this is me.”

“Nice place,” Kara commented, craning her neck back to look up the tall, gleaming silver and glass face of the building. “I bet it has a great view.”

“Well, yes it does. Especially from the penthouse apartment,” Lena glanced at her, and something in her gaze now made Kara’s stomach flip.

“Of course you got the penthouse,” Kara laughed, and then turned to fully face her. “I should let you go, but… I just wanted you to know that I had a really great time spending the night with you.”

“Maybe we can do it again?” Lena asked softly, uncertainty creeping through her voice. “Maybe get lunch sometime?”

“Deal,” Kara grinned, and then stepped forward, and leaned her head down to press a brief kiss to Lena’s cheek.

It did not go quite like she planned, however, as Lena turned her head as well – perhaps to do the same. And then suddenly Lena’s lips were pressing against her own, a startled “Oh” escaping her. And if Kara had thought Lena’s lips were soft and smooth before when she had placed her finger on them, _boy_ , she realized that was an understatement now.

Kara pulled back, though, her eyes wide, her mouth opening to apologize, the taste of Lena’s chapstick entering her senses when she reflexively licked her lips. But then Lena used their still-clasped hands to pull her back closer once again, and her free hand slid up to cup one of Kara’s cheeks in her palm, her blue-green eyes wide and hungry.

The second kiss was firmer, more sure, and their lips slid against each other, slotting together as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Kara fumbled with her own free hand for a moment, a little unsure what to do with it, before settling on resting it on the soft curve of Lena’s waist. She felt a soft, warm exhalation of air against her cheek from Lena’s nose, and then lost herself in the kiss until Lena pulled away, breathing heavily, her face flushed, eyes several shades darker than they had been minutes before.

“Wow,” was about the only word Kara could utter, and she knew she had a dumbfounded look on her face. Mostly because Lena giggled at her, and then pressed another, much shorter, kiss to the tip of her nose.

“Agreed. Wow.” Lena said, and oh, was her voice throatier in all the best ways. And then her perfect white teeth were digging into her lower lip, gnawing on it and Kara was ninety percent sure she felt her ovaries explode at that sight, and nearly as certain that she had never been so jealous of someone else’s lip before.

“I… I’d invite you up to my place, but – I don’t want to move too fast,” Lena said, leaning forward so her forehead was pressed against Kara’s. “If… if that’s even what you want…”

“Mm-hm,” Kara managed to reply, finally recovering some brain function to piece together words. “Yep. I want. But you’re right. I definitely need to take you on a few dates first before we take that step. I’m… I’m assuming you’d like to go on some dates, I mean?” She finished, wincing at the high-pitched tone of her voice at the end of her question.

“Absolutely.” Lena replied, locking a serious gaze on her – though they were still there with foreheads pressed together, so it ended up a little more cross-eyed than truly serious.

“Okay, okay, good,” Kara murmured, enjoying their closeness. “We can revisit this later, after I woo you. And boy, I am going to woo you, Lena.”

“W-woo me?” Lena asked, barely stifling a laugh. “Oh my god, I’ve just agreed to date a giant dork.”

Kara pouted, and then finally pulled back from Lena’s embrace. She raised the hand she had been resting on Lena’s waist, and used it to trail the slightest of touches of her fingers along Lena’s sharp jawline, and then up near her ear and then back, across her cheekbone. “There’s nothing wrong with a good woo-ing, Ms. Luthor,” she whispered.

Her pout turned into a smirk when Lena shivered at that and reached up to touch her cheek after Kara removed her hand from it.

Lena let out a shuddering breath, and then shook her head as if to clear it. “Okay, I should go up. And I look forward to your ‘woo-ing’.”

Kara grinned goofily and took that as her cue to let go of Lena’s hand, and she stepped back. But then as Lena turned to go, she realized something. “Oh! Wait Lena, I- uh, could I see your phone? We don’t have each other’s numbers.”

Lena turned back and laughed, and her nose crinkled so cutely that Kara felt like melting into a puddle of Kryptonian goo at the sight of it. She slipped a hand into her pocket to fish out her phone and turn it on. Once she unlocked it, she handed it over to Kara, who swiftly entered her number into Lena’s contacts, and then sent herself a message, feeling her own phone vibrate as it received it a moment later.

“There,” Kara handed it back, and then pulled out her own, making sure she saved Lena’s number immediately. “So, well, when you’ve moved in officially, text me. But, feel free to text me before then too, if you just want to talk. I’ll, um, maybe let you know how it goes when I tell Ms. Grant what I want to do.”

Lena inclined her head, her hand holding her phone tight to her chest. “I’d like that. Have a good night, darling. And good luck with your boss.”

After Lena turned and entered her building, Kara found herself standing outside for quite some time, basking in the cascade of warm feelings that were flowing through her as a result of her night with Lena. Lena, who had agreed to date her. Lena, who she knew she was already completely smitten with. _‘Darn it, Megan was right. She’s gonna never stop teasing me about this’_

Finally, she realized she might look a little creepy, standing like a statue outside the doors to the apartment building, and turned, deciding to walk back to her apartment rather than fly. It would give her more time to think and clear her head.

Kara felt her phone vibrate again, and saw it was a message from Alex, checking in on her as her big sister tended to do. She typed of a quick message, telling her she was fine, and returning home from her night out alone, and she found herself rather glad for once that work had kept Alex from joining her. Because if they had gone together, they may have just had a sisters night at Kara’s apartment, or may have gone to a different bar, or perhaps Kara even would have introduced her to Al’s – something she had been keeping as her own little Fortress of Solitude from her friends for several months now.

But either way, she would likely never have met Lena, and who knew what would have happened? Her sister’s text back brought her mind more fully to what had happened that night. 

_‘Ohmigosh, Alex is going to kill me. She’s going to find out I’m not only now dating Lena Luthor, but that she knows my secret. Wow. Alex is going to one-hundred-percent murder me, cut me into pieces, and no one will ever find the body. Well. I guess… I guess she doesn’t need to know just yet. Maybe I can ease her into it, and save my own life,_ ’ Kara thought, as she made it back to her apartment, stripped off her clothes, and slid into her favorite pair of pajamas.

And sure, Alex might not react positively at first, but easing her into it would give her enough time to adjust, and perhaps not murder both her and Lena (probably using only her pinky finger). And if she took enough time easing Alex into it, well, the more time she and Lena would have to explore this new relationship.

By the time Kara settled down in her bed, sinking into her fluffy pillow, she subconsciously found her super-hearing seeking out a soft, rhythm of a heartbeat across the city, high up in a penthouse apartment. One that lulled her to sleep, with a final thought on her lips. 

“A Super and a Luthor… who would’ve believed it?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, hope you guys liked it, I very much enjoyed writing these two dorks meeting and falling for each other (anything other than the way the show has been treating my baby gays is a breath of fresh air rn, honestly). 
> 
> On a side note, there's only one made up alien in this fic (the Cnidaxian), all the other races and planets are quite real (if perhaps a bit obscure for anyone that's not a total nerd like me). In particular, the drinks Kara and Lena had in the first chapter are a nod to another relationship (that I adore) in the DC universe (nerd cookies to anyone that gets it :) ).
> 
> That's it for now, but I'm not saying no to a future chapter (chapters?) in this 'verse. Have a great day, y'all!


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